The latest round of phones have all shipped with fingerprint readers, but the design limitations imposed by the sensor component left most phones with similar design. Other than the 2015 Nexus phones, LG G5, and the Nextbit Robin, the latest phones all used a fingerprint sensor that is integrated into the front home button.

For this new design, LG cuts a small groove into the underside of the display glass and installs the fingerprint reader there. The result is a fingerprint reader that LG Innotek says "is not exposed to [the] outside of the device," making it invisible. In fact, LG Innotek recommends indicating the location of reader on the bezel of the phone so users can tell where it is.

This isn't the first time we've seen under-glass fingerprint readers—both Qualcomm and Synaptics announced a similar component in 2015. Hopefully LG Innotek will be able to bring the concept into the mainstream. A spokesperson for LG Innotek told The Korean Times, "We are in talks with some handset manufacturers to commercialize the new modules within the year."

Ron Amadeo
Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. Emailron.amadeo@arstechnica.com//Twitter@RonAmadeo